Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce
by Dimitri A
Summary: When Lily dumps James he finds himself at a bar, trying to drown his sorrows, only to be bitten by a vampire. Snape saves him and what follows is the Wizarding World's Best Kept Secret.  Slash, Snape/James, AU, repost
1. Chapter 1

Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce

I don't own Harry Potter, and I doubt this idea is terribly original.

Author: Started by Aloysha Star, picked up by me. More about that at the end.

Rating: Hard R

Pairings: Main: Severus/James and Remus/Sirius. Minor: Peter/Lily, Lucius/Narcissa, Lily/James, and maybe some others.

Warnings: Alternate Universe, Male Pregnancy, Slash, Violence, Vampirism, Bloodletting/play, Language, and Death.

Notes: I was a bit bored waiting for my co-authors on another SS/JP thing and decided to try something out. Male Pregnancy, to be brutally blunt, makes my penis hurt. I don't much care for it, mainly because it isn't written well. I'm only writing this because I'm curious as to whether or not it's possible to write it in a way that doesn't make me want to puke. Vampires to indulge my blood fetish and lots and lots of Plot, because plot is an endangered species and should be nurtured back into prominence.

So, if I haven't already offended you, continue on.

Summary: When Lily dumps James he finds himself at a bar, trying to drown his sorrows, only to be bitten by a vampire. Snape saves him and what follows is the Wizarding World's Best Kept Secret.

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Chapter One

Wanting You

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The bar was the seediest, most run down place he could find, full of pale darkly dressed individuals and lit only by flickering candles. They did nothing to penetrate the gloom and, to be honest, did little except cast a sinister glow over it's patrons, giving already unnatural eyes a wicked gleam, bouncing off of eerily white and too sharp teeth. Lips all seemed to be stained red from the mugs they sipped from and, as the night wore on, they became less pale and more _alive._ Color returned to their cheeks, their hair lost its greasy lank texture and became full and thick, yellowing fingernails lightened and nearly translucent skin became healthy and smoothed of wrinkles.

Severus Snape, a few months past sixteen, watched all of this through lowered lashes. There were other places he could go, less back alley and more high class. While he would be accepted grudgingly and with dark whispers he would be accepted. His parents…they'd had status, even if only one of them had been truly their kind.

Sure, they'd called him a Half-Breed, Half-blood, Abomination, but they'd do it behind their hands and far enough away that his ears wouldn't hear it. Here they'd say it to his face, lips pulled into a sneer and snapping at him nastily.

That's what he wanted. He had never cared for the higher class the vampire half of his parentage bought him for a number of reasons, but mostly because no matter how they smiled they wanted nothing more than to rip each other's hearts out and drain each other dry.

At least here he was assured that he was nobody and, other than a few jeers, no one cared who he was. They were too preoccupied with actual life to want to kill him or other vampires, unlike the higher class who did nothing but socialize and feed all day.

Or at least that was how it seemed at times.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the door opening. He looked up and knew, by the pale hazy aura about the person, that this was no vampire stopping in for a drink. Human, with living blood pumping just below his skin.

Everyone felt it when he strode in, heartbeat unusually fast and the air tasting like sweat, tears, and fury. The life wafted off him like the tantalizing scent of a just cooked meal and really that's what he was. A meal with legs, waiting for someone to pounce.

A human who'd dared to walk into a vampire bar.

Snape swirled the blood around in his glass, still tasting the sharp tang of it mixed with brandy on his lips and tongue. It made the alcohol go down smoother. Blood straight from the source had been something to go along with infancy. Where he'd once feed from his mother the moment he was old enough to drink something other than blood he'd started on the kind you could buy at 'specialty' stores. It was cold and had a kind of a sour medicinal tang to it but he didn't really know the difference between that and living blood.

He was forbidden to feed; it'd been the only rule to his entering Hogwarts. The number of people who knew of his…nature was a small one that included his family, Albus Dumbledore, and Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts Medi-witch. There was a house-elf who knew, the one who brought Severus his weekly blood, but he didn't know its name and didn't particularly care much.

It was only in a place like this that he got something of a better quality. It wasn't fresh, but it wasn't tainted with chemicals or magic. Blood 'donated' by humans for money in the morning and sold out by dawn. It was….nice. It was, after all, the best he could hope for with the constraints placed upon him.

The other vampires in the bar weren't so hindered. He could practically hear them salivating at the prospect of a fresh meal with practically no consequences. A human who wandered into a bar would be killed and never found by anyone, not even the Wizarding Communities Department of Dangerous Creatures or the Vampire Embassy would be able to locate them.

No one here would tell. This man would simply be another one of the thousands who went missing every year. Nothing for Severus to be concerned about.

He took another drink and looked back down at his nearly forgotten history textbook. It'd been a gift from his older sister, Selena. She was studying in Paris, intending to become part of the Embassy and fight for 'Vampire Equality' with the Wizarding Ministry. She, unlike him, hadn't gone to a Wizarding school or gone for conventional forms of Magic, but had decided to study the old Magick rituals that were considered too dark for most.

She was teaching him, or at least giving him the proper tools to learn. She wanted him to be able to move fluidly throughout both worlds; she saw his affinity for both sorts of magic as a gift. He would be the perfect liaison between Vampires and Wizards one day, able to have one foot in both communities if he just stayed focused. Her eyes were always so bright as she spoke of the future and how they would change things.

Severus, who had never really entertained ideas of doing great things on his own, couldn't help but be excited when she spoke like that. Selena had a way of drawing people in and he was no exception.

He was reading up on the Roman's now and next would be the Celts. He thought he might start with the Welsh and Scots then move to the Irish.

"So, boy, do you have a name?" Severus heard the words and didn't need to look up to know that one of the others had gotten up and decided to charm the obviously drunk man. He heard a stool shifting and unsteady footsteps.

"Potter. M'name ish…Jamesh Potter."

Severus looked up, mouth dropping open in shock. He lucked out in that the man was off of his stool and facing his direction in order to address the scantily clad vampiress who had spoken to him. Hazel eyes, messy black hair, glasses just barely on his face, rumpled clothing, and that damnable smile. It was crooked now, matching his glazed over eyes, and he was swaying on his feet unsteadily. So much for a Seekers grace.

The woman, Lady Elizabeth of the Cessor Clan if he remembered his History right, reached out, one hand resting in the crook of Potter's elbow. He couldn't imagine what she was doing here; high ranking and powerful Clan figure that she was, but it wasn't like the purebloods didn't occasionally go slumming. "Well, James, why don't you walk me home?"

"Okay." Potter said in a shaky voice. Severus looked back at his book, scowling. James Potter, Dumbledore and Hogwarts' Golden Boy, Severus main tormentor and all around stupid bastard was about to be drained by a vampire because he dared to wander around downtown London drunken out of his mind.

It was almost too good to be true. Severus wouldn't even have to do anything except sit here and know what was going on. Everyone would be devastated and he could simply sit back and languish in the knowledge that he knew what had happened while everyone else wallowed in confusion.

It would be delicious.

…If not a little unfair. After all of the crap Potter had so joyously put him through, the humiliation and mocking of his fellow students because of his pranks that he never seemed to be punished for, and yet it was some random vampire who would take his life.

If anyone had earned such a reward it was he.

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James didn't normally wander home with strange women but this one was particularly lovely, taller than he was with long pale blond hair and glowing green eyes and the most perfect pink lips he had ever seen. She was wearing very little, in some dark shade of red, and her words were breathy and soft against his skin. She sent a thrill through his body and so he allowed himself to be lead away.

He'd come to the bar to forget and forget he would.

Lily Evans, the woman he loved and worshipped, had dumped him, _Him, _James Potter, for Peter Pettigrew. She'd dumped him for a rat. Sure, she didn't know Peter was a rat but James knew and if anything this proved it was more than just a form. He was an honest to God rat.

James was going to kill him later.

How could she? How could he? It was…unheard of. Peter wasn't as smart, as funny, as rich, or as powerful but she had dropped him with a cliché line about being always being friends and to please understand where she was coming from.

He couldn't understand. It was just so…unbelievable. He wasn't even too upset that she had left him, though he was sure he loved her, so much as that she had left him for Peter. Sure they were friends but James wouldn't have thought it a fair contest in spite his fondness for the other teen.

What could she possibly see in Peter that James was lacking? He was…he was just better in every way. How could she not see that?

Sirius and Remus had agreed and helped him drink himself into a warm fuzzy oblivion back at his grandparents London home. They'd fallen asleep though, passed out practically on top of one another, and he hadn't wanted to drink alone so he'd stumbled out with Remus' wallet. He'd been to more bars than he could count: some had refused him and others had allowed it as long as he could pay.

He felt good. The anger and betrayal were fuzzy things of long ago and now there was just a pleasant burn in his chest and head and groin and everything was lovely. He was going to go home with this woman who would undoubtedly allow him to get further than under her shirt, unlike a certain Miss Evans, and he could figure it out in the morning.

"James." Her voice was like music and he couldn't help but shiver against her when she spoke. "Come here with me."

He barely even realized he was wobbling down a damp, dingy alleyway between a Chinese restaurant and an Irish theme pub he himself had stumbled into not too long ago. He'd seen a leprechaun or two in there but they hadn't wanted to serve him and had sent him on his way.

This bar, well the one he'd been in before leaving with her, had been much nicer to him. Let him drink without a word and he didn't think he'd even paid. The bartender had been smiling at him a little strangely but James was willing to chalk it up to the alcohol singing in his body. His eyes were wet and everything around him tilted and swam but he found he didn't mind.

He was pushed against something and his managed to tilt his head up enough to stare into glowing green eyes. Lily had green eyes but they were nothing like this; almost otherworldly and staring right through him as if he were made of tissue paper. She smiled and it wasn't as nice as the first time but it sent a strange stab of desire to his belly.

"Just relax James." Her voice was thicker, muffled, as if trying to speak around something.

Still her words were soothing and felt more real than the cool wall behind him so he nodded and closed his eyes. He felt the brush of her hair over his suddenly too hot skin, the coolness of her breath on his neck, and the almost chilled press of lips against his pulse point. Her body was rigid and hard under his hands and when had his hands started touching her?

All thoughts died when two sharp pricks, like being stabbed with sewing needles, pierced his throat. He let out a strangled noise, maybe a cry, and then a soft moan. There was a soft sucking pressure on his neck as sharp nails dug into the skin of his arms, pushing him back and holding him down, and the rough surface of her tongue over his skin. It felt good…better than anything he could think of by leaps and bounds, like little bubbles were welling up beneath his skin and spreading throughout his body. He moaned again, mouth open and trying to suck in air as if she were sucking it out of him.

"Get away from him." A low voice rumbled. The suckling continued for a moment and then everything was gone. He cried out, dismayed, and took a swaying step only to fall to the ground. He felt rather foolish lying in a foul smelling puddle but he couldn't seem to gather his wits enough to move.

"Who are you, young one?" It was her, a soft raspy purr that wrapped around his brain and caressed.

"That's mine." The voice sounded exasperated and long suffering, as well as oddly familiar. James couldn't lift his head to see though and instead stared at the woman's strappy red heels, which ended in an almost deadly looking point. "He got away after an argument."

She laughed and rocked back slightly. "He's almost as old as you are."

"None the less he is mine and no one else's. You know the punishment for taking someone else's human."

She hissed and her anger laced through James like acid, burning him. "He isn't marked and he left with me willingly! You can't-"

There was silence, long and hard and James felt cold and alone and wish she'd come back with her needle sharp bites and cutting hands. Hands did touch him, hauling him up, but they were rough and calloused and not at all the same. His head lulled to the side and he looked into fathomless black eyes. The only thing he could think of similar was the Lake, late at night in the dead of winter, black and open as if stretching forever.

Beautiful really.

"Potter, do sober up."

The world seemed to shift, widening so he could see more. He knew the eyes, or the person they belonged to rather. Long greasy black hair, sallow skin, that abnormally large nose, and thin lips pulled downward in a furious scowl. He giggled then winced at how high pitched and vaguely annoying the sound was to his own ears.

"Snape, what…whatever is you doing h-here?" He asked, frowning at his false start. Why didn't his words seem to want to cooperate with him?

"Marveling at your idiocy." Snape's lip curled back to reveal one sharp tooth, elongated and hanging over his bottom teeth just slightly. James stared, swaying forward some, and the expression on Snape's face shifted slightly. "You're bleeding."

"Huh." James legs decided they no longer wanted to be a part of the party and simply gave out, leaving him flailing as he fell over. He didn't get far as Snape grabbed him and kept him upright with a long sigh. "Hi Snape."

"I would suggest, Master Snape, that you keep a closer eye on your puppy. Or at least a collar; someone less nice than me might want to keep him." James could hear her but didn't pay much mind, too busy leaning closer to Snape and closing his eyes. He didn't feel so good all of a sudden. His neck hurt and burned uncomfortably. "He was rather delicious."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"I don't suppose you'd let me watch you? I promise not to tell anyone that you let your pretty little puppy get away from you." Snape's hands, resting on either side of his waist, tightened almost painfully for a moment. "That could ruin your family's reputation."

This was all very odd. What was going on? He tried to pick his head up and make his mouth form words. All that came out was a dry raspy groan. Snape glanced down at him, lips drawing back from his teeth again. James found himself drawn to two sharp points, glinting in the dim light.

"You flatter me Lady Elizabeth. What interest do you have?" Snape's voice was low and sent strange shivers up and down James' spine.

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"He was so responsive. If I can't have him myself I would at least like to watch someone fully feed." Her eyes turned almost glassy for a moment and an unneeded breath caught in her throat. "I'd wager he's quite the sight to behold."

Severus looked down at Potter who seemed nothing short of pitiful at the moment. His hair was akin to a rat's nest, his eyes were hooded and glazed, lips parted as he breathed in and out in short bursts, and a small rivulet of blood wound its way down his collarbone to stain his shirt.

He did smell exceptional though: a heady mixture of freshly spilled blood, sweat, confusion, and arousal. It was the latter than almost made him smile; he never would have thought Dumbledore's Golden Boy to be the sort to get off on a vampires bite but when he'd walked into the alley expecting to hear cries of pain he'd heard moans.

Humans were usually in terrible pain when his kind feed, screaming as their very life was forced to flow towards the bite and drained out through two small holes. He imagined it was rather painful for them to endure. Some however liked it and the bite was like an aphrodisiac.

Vampire Whores. Far and few between but guarded jealously and coveted by those lucky enough to acquire one. It wasn't often you found a human who would be willing to sit at your side for their entire lives and allow you to drink from them. Were Potter not such a useless specimen Severus would have thought he'd stumbled upon something truly wonderful.

It'd left him an easy way to get the other teen out at least. Lady Elizabeth was honorable and would acknowledge a spoken claim even if the psychical evidence weren't there. All the better than Potter wasn't so pissed he couldn't recognize him.

This did leave him a slight problem. She wanted to see what James could do and he very much didn't want to taste the other. Well, he supposed he did want to taste him but he didn't want to have to kill James after all of the effort he'd put into saving him and he didn't know if he'd be able to stop himself.

Young vampires were infamously messy and harsh when they were finally allowed to hunt live humans, tearing out the throat and insides of their unlucky prey rather than drain them slowly. Not deliberately from what he understood; it was just hard to control once you'd gotten a taste.

Still he couldn't refuse. Just because she was letting it go thus far didn't mean she'd continue if he blatantly disobeyed her. She was his elder by nearly three hundred years and such behavior wouldn't be acceptable by any standards.

He nodded and swallowed, trying to steel himself against what would come next, consoling himself with what he knew was undeniable logic. He'd tasted blood and, while nice, it was nothing new. He would be able to control himself.

He bowed his head, letting his teeth slide into slightly resisting skin on the side opposite of where Elizabeth had bitten. He withdrew them once the skin was pierced and sealed his mouth over the wound, all too aware of the soft mewling noise the man he hated most in the world was making. Blood, hot and rushing, coated his tongue and he knew in that instant he was lost.

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Short note: Aloysha was a very good friend of mine and sometimes I page through the collection of word files he sent me something like 3 years ago and add bits and pieces to things. I think that, in the long run, he was hoping to see some of his more ambitious works completed. I hope to do justice to this one, which had some pretty interesting concepts and directions planned for it. We have different writing styles, but hopefully they can mesh up well.

Dedicated to Alex, the world is just a touch sadder without you in it.


	2. Chapter 2

Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce

I don't own Harry Potter, and I doubt this idea is terribly original.

Author: Started by Aloysha Star, picked up by me.

Rating: Hard R

Pairings: Main: Severus/James and Remus/Sirius. Minor: Peter/Lily, Lucius/Narcissa, Lily/James, and maybe some others.

Warnings: Alternate Universe, Male Pregnancy, Slash, Violence, Vampirism, Bloodletting/play, Language, and Death.

Summary: When Lily dumps James he finds himself at a bar, trying to drown his sorrows, only to be bitten by a vampire. Snape saves him and what follows is the Wizarding World's Best Kept Secret.

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Chapter Two

Holding Back

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He bowed his head, letting his teeth slide into slightly resisting skin on the side opposite of where Elizabeth had bitten. He withdrew them once the skin was pierced and sealed his mouth over the wound, all too aware of the soft mewling noise the man he hated most in the world was making. Blood, hot and rushing, coated his tongue and he knew in that instant he was lost.

He didn't have the words to explain the flavor, the texture, the…amazingness of what burst into his mouth. It was different from the 'blood' brought to him at Hogwarts and even the blood he'd had at bars. No, this was…alive. Each drop hummed with life, pulsed over his tongue in time to James's heartbeat.

He fell into it, lost the outside world completely as James, and only James, filled his senses. He could hear his heart and the absolutely filthy noises the other teen was making, could feel the smaller body arch into him, losing all of its lethargy in an attempt to rut against him. Hands, strong for a human, clutched at Severus and he couldn't help but pull back, molding himself into the warm body. Smaller, more compact, and muscled. He could smell him, stronger than before, and the sharp musk of arousal.

And the taste.

It wasn't sweet at all, but rather metallic, and he could feel it rushing through him, leaving tingling warmth flowing through his veins in its wake. It clung to his mouth, as if promising (threatening) to be a taste he would never be able to forget.

It was too much. His mind was empty of all except James, foggy and muddled around the edges, and he thought for a moment that he could die like this right now and wouldn't care if the least.

As fast as he'd lost himself a voice, soft but powerful, commanded him to let go. He wanted to ignore it, to climb deeper into the other teen, to pull him apart and seek out every last drop of fluid inside of him. It'd be so easy, so painfully easy, to pull every last bit out and there was no doubt in his mind that James would allow it. He mewled and begged for more, wanted it so much that it caused a hunger to flair in Severus belly that wasn't completely related to feeding.

He was, after all, still a teenage boy and he'd be lying if he said he'd never entertained the idea of fucking James Potter until the other teen screamed. Severus was, aside from being a teenage boy, not an especially nice teenage boy. The current situation probably proved that, to a degree.

Still, there was the voice. It demanded he let go, pierced through the haze and, when he tried to ignore it slammed into him hard enough to make him break away from James with a wet gasp. Once his mouth was free and sucking in air in deep ragged breathes, awareness flooded him. James sagged in his arms, pale and trembling but wearing a stupid content smile. Severus could smell the other teen's release, a heady intoxicating smell that stoked the other flame building in him. It beat down at the blood haze.

"Oh." A soft intake of breathe made him turn back to the woman he'd all but forgotten about. She was watching them, lips parted, teeth fully extended, and eyes narrowed to slits. "Thank you, Master Snape. It was an inspiring display."

He said nothing, still trying to gather he wits together and not do something else he knew he'd come to regret (Like sex with what could very well be a dying James Potter in some disgustingly dirty ally) and watched her walk away with hooded eyes.

He breathed out again then straightened up, support Potter easily. He stared down, eyes momentarily drawn to the small holes marring that smooth tanned neck. He licked his lips, temptation warring with his emerging common sense. He wouldn't be sating his other…urges so would another taste be so bad? The muscles in Potter's neck flexed and Severus groaned softly before lowering his mouth.

His lips touched the other's neck, almost like a kiss, when that voice came to him again. It told him to look at Potter, to assess the situation before delving back in. What if he killed the other man, could he live with that on his conscious?

He took him mouth away, watching regretfully as blood would itself way over sun-touched skin, before really looking at what he held in his arms. While he thankfully hadn't ripped out Potter's throat, or done any real visible damage, he didn't know how much he'd taken. Potter's heartbeat was slower, almost sluggish, and his skin was just slightly cooler than it'd been previously. But he was alive and that was something at least.

He pulled Potter closer, once again breathing in the scent of the shorter teen then, suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness, staggered. Potter slipped free of his grasp, once again slumping to the ground, and Snape pressed a hand to his forehead, trying to fight the feeling racing upon him.

It was a losing battle and, abruptly disconnected from his body, saw himself collapsing against the wall and sliding to the ground. He reached out with his mind; seeking help from the one person he knew would give it, panic boosting his usually lacking telepathic prowess. Darkness was creeping up at him, but he knew he didn't dare just pass out like this. Potter was in questionable shape as it was; lying in a wet alley surely wouldn't help.

More than that Snape couldn't risk being found like this; if this got out he'd not only find himself expelled from Hogwarts, wand broken, but risked prosecution from the Ministry. A vampire caught feeding on an unwilling victim would find themselves imprisoned if they were lucky and executed in most cases. There wouldn't be much of a trial either; with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named gaining in followers and infamy the ministry didn't spend much time deal with 'Magical Creatures' these days.

'_Le!'_

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Selena Snape frowned at the door of her girlfriend's apartment, a cold pricking feeling running up her spine. She'd felt odd for the past few minutes, a strange heavy feeling settling in her stomach and just refusing to be moved. A soft hand touched the small of her back and she turned to smile into soft brown eyes

"Selena?" Zuha's voice was a husky rumble, the very thing that had first caught Selena's attention. "What's wrong?"

She smiled sense of foreboding temporarily forgotten. She and Zuha, while physically opposite, were very similar in personality. Both very serious, questioning, and prone to quiet observation but, where Selena was more sarcastic and suspicious, Zuha was sweet and kind.

Kindness was not a trait inherent in her gene pool, really, but Selena had found that the vampires from India and the Middle East were less wary and more accepting than their English counterparts.

She grasped the younger woman's hand, dark brown intertwining with her own pale ones. "Just getting a weird feeling. I'm not sure I'm up to going out tonight. You should go without me.

Zuha has been about to argue with her, she could see it written all over that expressive face. It took a little insistence but soon the other woman was sweeping out of the apartment, leaving the scent of lavender oil trailing after her. Selena waved as the elevator doors slid shut then closed the door and headed for the couch.

She would sit down and read for a little bit; she'd just picked up an amazing anthology of autobiographical tales by some of the first vampires to colonize America. She whole heartedly believed that the key to integrating Creature Society with Wizarding Society laid in the past, and the similar progress both societies had made. Proving that they were, at the core, all the same, would be what finally caused change.

Selena was, at the moment, going through the interview process as a lower level in the Wizard and Magical Creature Interpersonal Affairs office with the Indian Ministry of Magic, specializing in Vampire Affairs.

She was no wizard of course, but Professor Acharya thought that was made her such a potentially invaluable ally for the ministry. India was leaps and bounds ahead of the English Ministry in their acceptance and integration of Magical Creature's to their society. Back home she was considered a radical in both wizard and vampire circles and could have never imagined finding a legitimate position with the Ministry.

Well, as legitimate as being an intern turned clerk (hopefully) in Acharya's office could be.

She smiled slightly as she picked up her book. Coming to India, after receiving a letter from Acharya (who claimed to be impressed with the papers she'd written and her constant campaign for more understanding from Wizards for other breeds of magical beings) had been the best decision of her life. She'd met Zuha, had really established herself, and had even been able to work closely with scientists who were making great strides in potions to make werewolves docile during transformations and craft a synthetic food source for vampires.

She's brought her brother out for a week a month ago, knowing how interested he was in the potions, both the magical side and the science that went with it, and he'd seemed to really enjoy himself. She was sure that, once he was done with Hogwarts, having him come to India with her would really help him open up as a person. Right now he was quiet and sullen and so angry…but she knew a lot of that was related to being a Hogwarts and the cruelty of the other students there.

One more year and –

She gasped, book falling from suddenly nerveless fingers as _panicfeardizzyhelphelp_ hit her. She fell to her knees, trying to pull air into her lungs, which felt as if icy fingers were trying to crush the air out of them.

'_Le!'_

Her vision swam as her brother's voice stabbed into her mind, leaving white hot pain in its wake. She pushed it aside, reaching out for him with her mind and willing herself to him.

Selena Snape was no wizard, but in a world that Wizarding kind lorded over, she had learned to use all of the arts available to one of magical birth to get by.

She became mist, a skill that few vampires bothered learning, let alone mastering, in this modern age of cars, trains, and planes and burst from the window of the apartment. She didn't like to be in this form too long; it was a state of total coldness, inside and out, where emotions and concerns were suppressed and could be forgotten. There were stories of vampires who'd turned to mist and never returned.

She was willing to admit that thought scared her.

It was a fast trip, just enough for the edge of the chill to creep up on her. She came back to her body in a dingy ally that smelled of beer and oil, a few paces from the crumpled form of her brother. She hurried forward, bending next to him and turning his face for a better look.

She frowned as the scent of fresh blood hit her nose, took in the smudge of red on his lips and the flush on his face; the flush of one who'd just feed extremely well. She looked around him, at the pale shivering form he'd all but fallen on top of. She left Severus, knowing he'd be fine soon enough, and peered down at the human anxiously. She started to reach to take a look at the bite marks on his neck when the boy moved, exposing his face. She pulled her hand back, teeth tearing through her gums.

She knew this boy; James Potter. He was the bane of her brother's existence; he'd never said as much but in his more frustrated moments he had spoken of some of his fellow students and names like Sirius Black and James Potter were said like the worst curse words possible. She had been curious, looked into both boys and their families, and hadn't liked what she found.

She knew types like them, from the vampire community: Rich, smug, cruel, assured that their blood purity put them ahead of everyone else, and utterly useless blights upon society.

And now bitten by her little brother.

She swallowed, quickly coming to the only obvious answer. Killing him would be the only option. She could leave him here, to be found and tell the world what he brother had done. She abhorred the idea of murder on a moral level and because of her desire for integration of her people, but, at the very basest of levels, killing humans was in her nature. She wouldn't feel for him and guilt wouldn't gnaw at her.

Above even her hopes for the future was her need to protect her brother. She's been protecting him since the day he was born and she wouldn't fail him in such a crucial moment.

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Zuha: An Indian name, meaning Morning star.

Acharya = Priest & teacher (So Professor Teacher. Yes.)


End file.
